Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath

by Mimi Alford, Susan Denaker (Reading)

In the summer of 1962, nineteen-year-old Mimi Beardsley arrived by train in Washington, D.C., to begin an internship in the White House press office. The Kennedy Administration had reinvigorated the capital and the country—and Mimi was eager to contribute. For a young woman from a privileged but sheltered upbringing, the job was the chance of a lifetime. Although she started as a lowly intern, Mimi made an impression on Kennedy’s inner circle and, after just three days at the White House, she was presented to the President himself.
 
Almost immediately, the two began an affair that would continue for the next eighteen months.
 
In an era when women in the workplace were still considered “girls,” Mimi was literally a girl herself—naïve, innocent, emotionally unprepared for the thrill that came when the President’s charisma and power were turned on her full-force. She was also unprepared for the feelings of isolation that would follow as she fell into the double life of a college student who was also the secret lover of the most powerful man in the world. Then, after the President’s tragic death in Dallas, she grieved in private, locked her secret away, and tried to start her life anew, only to find that her past would cast a long shadow—and ultimately destroy her relationship with the man she married.
 
In 2003, a Kennedy biographer mentioned “a tall, slender, beautiful nineteen-year-old college sophomore and White House intern, who worked in the press office” in reference to one of the President’s affairs. The disclosure set off a tabloid frenzy and soon exposed Mimi and the secret that she had kept for forty-one years. Because her past had been revealed in such a shocking, public way, she was forced, for the first time, to examine the choices she’d made. She came to understand that shutting down one part of her life so completely had closed her off from so much more.
 
No longer defined by silence or shame, Mimi Alford has finally unburdened herself with this searingly honest account of her life and her extremely private moments with a very public man. Once Upon a Secret offers a new and personal depiction of one of our most iconic leaders and a powerful, moving story of a woman coming to terms with her past and moving out of the shadows to reclaim the truth.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, History, Politics, Biography Memoir, Autobiography

Audio

First published October 19, 2012

About the author

Marion "Mimi" Alford (born May 7, 1943) is an American woman who wrote a book first published in 2011 about her affair 50 years earlier with the United States President John F. Kennedy when she was a 19 year-old intern working in the White House. Her book is titled Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

SAYING #METOO TO JOHN F. KENNEDY: CONFESSIONS AND ACCUSATIONS FROM A WHITE HOUSE INTERN.

There is a difference between reviewing a book and psycho-analyzing an author. But this book provokes me to blur that distinction.

Mimi Alford, author of ONCE UPON A SECRET, can't decide if she is writing a confession or an indictment.

Characters in books are allowed to be three-dimensional and textured, as multi-layered as lasagna. But when a narrator's approach to a character is unclear, when the narrator in fact vacillates between two opposing views, then the book will have problems. Is this a story of the mutual, tender love affair between the charming young President and the woman he was drawn to in a passionate, if ill-advised romance? Or is this a story about the Most Powerful Man in the world and the way he brutally forced himself on a confused, 19-year-old virgin?

It is the latter.

Alford is to be commended for not pulling punches in her description of her first encounter with Kennedy. Indeed, the best writing in the book may be the opening. The first ten pages are gripping, suspenseful, and free of any extraneous adornment. It reads as "Just the Facts, Ma'am." It is an outstanding beginning.

Unfortunately, even fifty years later, Alford remains ambivalent about her experience with Kennedy. Perhaps he is the only man she has worked for who uses his overwhelming gifts of charm and personality to abuse everyone around him. I have known and worked for several. It does take some getting used to--these kinds are such natural salesmen, they are accustomed to making everyone do things they do not want to do. But if you work for them day-in and day-out, the abuse, the dangerous malevolence lurking just beneath that winsome smile begins to come out.

The original sub-title ("My Secret Affair With President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath") suggests this book is about keeping her secret and the damage it caused, and the healing that followed sharing it. And there is a story there. But the narrative is overwhelmed by a much larger story--President Kennedy forced himself on a half-drunk intern after he had barely had two or three conversations with her. It was her fifth day on the job. It was memories of Kennedy that destroyed Alford's later marriage--not her secret. It was Kennedy who forced her daughters to suffer through a broken home--not mom's secret or dad's understandable--if ridiculous--reaction to it. It is still Kennedy that has changed the course of the author's entire life. I think she forgives the man, the beast, far too easily. There is a reason such men are called "wolves."

"Once Upon a Secret" brings to mind another odd title: "Once Upon a Mattress," fitting perhaps, because that first encounter—on none other than Jackie’s mattress(!)-—seems to be the “pivot point,” (as Alford would phrase it) on which so much turns. The author bluntly faces some of the hard truths about the ways JFK pushed her and manipulated her during an affair that lasted his entire presidency. But she always finds a way to defend him.

Perhaps as a victim of a classic case of sexual harassment, conquest, rape (call it what you will), her mixed tone is forgivable. The Stockholm Syndrome is to be expected. John F. Kennedy was not only the President—-he was one of the biggest “rock stars” alive at the time, a charismatic celebrity perhaps rivaled only by Elvis Presley. Naturally being “singled out” by him was flattering on some level, and left the virginal 19-year-old unsure what to do next.

But the mixed emotions of the narrator—her personal reaction—do nothing to soften the truth of this crime. Fifty years later, she continues to defend the President. She frets about hurting his image; she reports every kind gesture or tender moment they ever shared, including gifts he picked out for her, letters he wrote, and more, as if struggling to remind us all how sweet he was.

This dichotomy, this cognitive dissonance is even more problematic when this book is viewed as a story, as a “book” after all. The narrator endures this terrible thing, this crime that, were a few details changed, would never be tolerated. Forget the President. Imagine if your 19-year-old daughter took an internship at the local newspaper, was invited out for drinks with the fat, fifty-something editor-in-chief. After they coerce her into drinking not one but two daiquiris, the old man gets her alone, leans her over on a convenient bed, and puts his hands under her dress, robbing her of her virginity in minutes.

There are no grounds for mixed emotions. The encounter is 100% one-sided, unwelcome, and an absolute shock. The narrator’s odd reaction (helping him with her dress) does nothing to lessen the wickedness (it is not consent). He was the 45-year-old President of the Free World. She was not even twenty, a sheltered good girl from a girl’s school, never had had a boyfriend, had not kissed a boy since eighth grade. If it were my daughter, there might never have been a “grassy knoll.” And yet, this victim vacillates, alternately reporting the abuse, then defending the abuser. In a book, this creates tone problems and incoherence. Are you for him or against him? Is he the good guy or the bad guy? Who are we supposed to root for? But I suspect this is exactly the sort of incoherence you have to live with when you are the young and powerless, nearly childlike victim of a powerful, admired (nearly parent-like) older abuser. Such a double mindedness should perhaps be expected in anyone victimized as Alford was.

I am a lawyer, not a psychologist. But some have said serious abuse can leave you emotionally stuck at the age when it happened. When it comes to her reaction and continued defense of Kennedy, the author seems stuck in 1963. That is none of my business and beyond the scope of a book review, but it is the sort of impression her unyielding defense leaves. It reminds me of women who suffer domestic violence, but refuse to press charges, telling police they fell down the stairs and got that black eye.

Again, the author suffered a terrible evil. The confusion it left her with is just another part of it. Thousands of people can understand that weird and terrifying bond that connects the victim to the abuser. I only wish the author well. I enjoyed the book.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected this to be a little more salacious. Mimi Beardsley was the original White House intern, in the Kennedy administration, and was basically outed a few years ago by the press. What most struck me about this memoir is, though she wrote it in her late 60s, it reads every bit the naïve 19 year old she was. I completely understood how and why things unfolded even if I was cringing on her behalf. Her nineteen year old self shines through in a most realistic way. It’s crazy how long she kept this a secret from the people she loved. And it’s crazy that JFK would call the communal phone in the dorm and ask for her and people had no idea.

She is very discreet with what she shares. The sex scenes are no more descriptive than “he took his pants off and then we were done.” I didn’t really feel why she was so enamored of him (other than the obvious) and if there were sparks between the two they did not show up in here. The writing is almost too discreet, which is not to say she should’ve gone into physical details but it gave zero sense for the man JFK was behind closed doors and thus made their affair seem robotic and functional but not the least bit passionate. And maybe it was just that. In any case, a quick read.

[Christie Bane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally, completely loved this book, much to my surprise. I picked it up looking for a tawdry thrill and haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Why? Here's why.

First of all, the author came off as someone who has done a ton of self-analysis and has really thought about what she did from every possible angle. She's a well-educated and thoughtful person and the way she can honestly report her motivation for doing everything that she did, whether they put her in a good light or not, was impressive. I don't think there are that many people who really analyze their own actions and thoughts in any kind of objective way like she did.

Second, everything she said about their relationship was totally and completely believable. I can picture her perfectly as a naive but smart and willing young intern in the white house. I believe everything she said -- she loved JFK, but she never had any false illusions about the outcome of their affair. Both she and he handled the affair with class and propriety. I have read my share of JFK books and trust me, this book gives a perspective on him that you will not find anywhere else.

Third, she did not write this for attention. She kept this secret for a long time. I think 40-something years. And when she did finally tell it, it was because the press dug it up and she was forced to deal with it again.

Fourth, the most interesting part of this book was NOT the details of what she did with JFK, although that was certainly interesting. It was the way it affected her relationship with her husband. She told him about the affair when they were engaged and JFK was assassinated. He was appalled and told her he would still marry her but she could never speak of it again. That secret was at the center of their married life and it ate at it like a cancer until the marriage fell apart. That led me to think about the nature of secrets and how destructive they can be. I realized when I was 18 that when there is something that can't be talked about between two people in a relationship that that relationship is essentially over. Oh, it might take a while for the house to fall down but I truly believe it will eventually. For her it took 20-something years.

Secrets can be very destructive, but they can also be the catalysts for major personal growth.

[Sally Wessely]

Mimi Alford and I grew up during the same era, so I could relate to much of what she said about the times. She had the advantage of being a member of the social register that got her into the best schools and gave her access to jobs such as the one she had as a White House intern.

I guess my thoughts about what I felt about the story she has to tell about her time as President Kennedy's mistress could be summed up by my reaction to a photo of President Kennedy in today's paper. The article that went with the photo recounted how 50 years ago today, the President visited Pueblo, Colorado, as part of the Pan/Ark Project. I remember that day vividly. President Kennedy was the hero of my generation. We adored him. Never in my wildest dreams would I have suspected that he was accompanied by a young woman just one year older than I was at the time. Today, I thought of him in a totally different light. I saw him as someone who blatantly took advantage of a young woman. I see him as an emotionally compartmentalized person. I see him as one who used his power to exert his desires on others in ways that left years of emotional damage for those who fell under his power of charisma.

The memoir is a good one in many ways. At times, I felt the story was told at a surface level. It seemed that the author did not dig as deeply into the ways that the affair affected her life as much as she revealed how the keeping of the secret affected her. Perhaps the two can never be separated.

I admire Mimi Alford for telling her story. I admire her for trying to deal with the impact the secret held on her life. For a woman of my generation, I know she had much to overcome. We were raised in a different time. Secrets such as hers were not to be told. My guess is that President Kennedy was banking on that.

[Skyring · Rating 4 out of 5]

America was in love with JFK. Even those who hadn't voted for him in 1960, many of whom selectively edited their memories after his death to say that they had. For 19 year old Mimi Beardsley, recruited as a summer intern following a fleeting meeting with the President, there was no chance.

He literally tested the waters with her, inviting her to his regular lunchtime swim session and later giving her a private tour of the private areas of the White House, where she lost her virginity to JFK and began a two year affair with him.

Mimi, now Alford rather than Beardsley after two marriages, thinks of herself as a footnote to a footnote of history, but I see her as more than this. She is, very literally, a paragraph in at least two biographies of those Camelot years, and with historians breathing down her neck until she was finally outed, forty five years later, she decided to go public with her own story.

There are two intimate glimpses here in this book. Mimi looking back at her nineteen year old self, and her memories of the dashing young President. We see the innocent college student, excited to be invited to work in the White House press office, where merely changing the rolls on Pierre Salinger's teletype machines was exciting. She worries about clothing, she dreams of interviewing Jackie, she makes friends with the staff.

And she is seduced by the President. We see JFK as a charming predator, looking on 1960s Washington as a sexual smorgasbord, Mimi just one of many conquests. He's a thoughtful lover, sometimes a little over-confident, sometimes distracted by events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

His womenising is an open secret, particularly with Jackie, who loses count of her husband's lovers. Her absence from the White House is a signal for Jack to replace her, for a few minutes or a night, and we gasp at his brazen behaviour as he recruits his staff and his brothers to move women around, sometimes in secret, sometimes under the noses of the press corps.

Now, this is not the salacious behind the bedroom door book it could have been. The woman in her sixties telling the story reveals little about body parts and techniques. Instead she tells the story of the relationship, before and after Kennedy's assassination, which is a turning point in her life and the beginning of a long and ultimately miserable marriage.

She keeps her secret for decades, though it poisons her life,band when she finally tells a few close friends and family and then later shares it with the world, we share her sense of relief and catharsis. For one thing, she wants to set the record straight, correcting a few minor details, and she also wants to let the world know the devastating impact the affair had on her life.

I find myself, rather than shocked or salacilised, cheering Mimi on whenever she stands up for herself. Poor woman, she's gone through so much, she deserves a little love and understanding.

Besides, I've always been more than a little in love with the charismatic young President myself, seduced by the legend.

[Cyndee Gero-moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick read, only took a few hours, and I think you will find worth your time. This is, at its essense, the story of a woman taking nearly a lifetime to claim her power. It is also a story about a man's egregious abuse of power toward a innocent 19 year old girl.

She could have said no,you say. I challenge any woman who has ever been 19 years old, love and attention starved, and naiive of the ways of the world, to say Mimi Alford could have said no to the President of the United States. It was not in her making to say no to anyone. And any of us women 50 or over really should understand, because growing up during those times, we know a good girl was taught not to say no, and to please at all costs. As did this young woman, which ultimately contributed to a peril she wasn't aware of until many years later.

Alford's title is also interesting and true, as she refers to "the aftermath" of her affair with Kennedy, which colored all her relationships, and devastated her first marriage. Writing of this book is her catharsis.

While this story of a older man overpowering a young girl is a common tale at its core, this one still had me a bit shocked, even after all we know about JFK's infamous philandering. If I had any respect for this man, after reading this, it is now gone.

I think all women will see little tidbits of their youthful self in Mimi Alford. A good and quick read!!!

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘’Sex makes headlines. We are bombarded by the scandalous headlines.’’

So I’m not from America so I don’t really care for JFK. I bought this because it was cheap, I was curious and I love that blue color.
Idk, I always feel kinda weird rating/reviewing memoirs/biographies/blahblah because it’s someone’s life but yeah we all know that JFK was having sex with everyone but his wife.
Was the relationship predatory and weird? Yes it was. Does she think it is? Sadly no.


‘’You build walls, you compartmentalize, you make sure that no one ever knows you completely.’’

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ick, ick, ick. If you don't want to be disgusted by JFK, then don't read this book. ICK!

The book is an easy read, but everything about it is disturbing: JFK's behavior, the behavior of his aides, but most of all, the disturbing retrospective account of this 70-year old woman who, even with 50 years' distance, thinks that JFK did nothing wrong. She's pretty delusional, not only excusing and justifying what is essentially multiple episodes of rape, but in believing that she and JFK shared an "intimate" relationship, and had he survived, they would have been good friends.

While I remain suspicious as to just how "intimate" their relationship never was (I won't provide a spoiler that pretty well addresses it), one thing is very clear: this is the sad story of a woman who was used and abused by JFK, went on to have a miserable marriage with someone who was probably not much different, and writes about it now with the apologetic tone of someone who continues to make excuses for the bullies in her life.

A fascinating read for a number of reasons, but most fascinating isn't JFK's vile behaviour, but the lack of perspective of the author.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to research more about "Mimi Alford". Right now I'm feeling such conflicting emotions.
* I'm sorry as a young adult being manipulated into being a mistress.
* It's clear she needed to find a voice, but not sure it needed to be writing a book.
* Even with her caring a secret so long, why didn't she just seek a therapist! Give me a break...
* Ok, you had a sexual relationship with a President, but he's gone "Mimi". If you felt it was important to give your side, I agree you are just a footnote to a footnote.
* I'm happy your family supported you, but why do you need "rest of the world" to soften your heart?
* Ok, you had an unhappy marriage, but engaging "again" as an adulterous shouldn't result in it being ok.
* I do not excuse our 35th President, but he left a daughter who has yet another book as a reminder. Maybe you weren't phased that you disrespected "our First Lady", but you should apologize to their family.
* It's a joke to read how you rarely think about JFK, but didn't have trouble retelling your affair. Seems you haven't let go Mimi.
* Finally, if you truly have integrity..take every dime of proceeds of this book and support causes that help young ladies empowering their self-esteem.
** For the record, I got this book from my local library. It will be right back on their shelf in a few short hours.

[Farrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm, I have mixed feelings about this book. Obviously I finished it very quickly, which speaks to how interesting it was. But it was also disturbing.

It WAS fascinating to have this insight into the President's personal world and how things like having affairs with 19-year-old interns got started and continued for 1.5 years with no one apparently the wiser - or at least everyone choosing to ignore it or not acknowledge it publicly. You can't help but be amazed considering the 24 hr. news cycle we are on now wherein it would be INCREDIBLY difficult for a President to get away with as much philandering as JFK was doing. In that way, I think our current way of doing things is better. I don't believe a President deserves to be enabled to do things like cheat on his wife and have them kept totally secret by the media and those close to him.

BUT, as fascinating as her story was (and sometimes sickening), this author is a fairly unlikeable/unrelatable person. While I respect that she kept this a secret for as long as she did and never tried to cash in on it until she was exposed, I thought it was exceedingly odd and off-putting that she says SEVERAL times in the book that she felt no guilt about anything she did, and still doesn't and that she never once thought about Jackie or the kids or that maybe this was a bad choice. Oh and btw, she was actually engaged to her future husband for part of the time that she was still sleeping with the President...so just maybe not the best moral compass here altogether...

She makes a big point to stand by her choices and claim that she wouldn't change anything and that there was nothing else she could have done as a 19-year-old virgin but succumb to the wiles of an attractive man who was also the most powerful man in the world. And while we've all done some dumb things as teenagers and I certainly don't think she tried to seduce the President or anything, I guess I was very surprised and put off by the fact that now, as an adult looking back on those years, she still does not feel any regret or guilt for having a long-term affair with a President who was also a married man with children. She still seems to look back on this as a really special magical time in her life, with none of the wisdom or learning that one hopefully gains with age.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone old enough remembers where they were when President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot. I was twelve. When I was eleven, I remember sewing my Halloween costume on the Commonwealth Avenue mall when J.F.K. rode by in a convertible. The light was shining on his auburn hair. His smile was wide, his teeth so white. I remember thinking that he was the one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. Since then, I have been fascinated with "Camelot," and the stories that have been revealed about the president when it comes to infidelity.

I was drawn to reading this book to learn just how a working president of the United States could easily get any woman he wanted. Mimi's story tells all the facts the reader wants to know. Mimi was an innocent 19 year old intern, a virgin, who worked for Pierre Salinger at the White House. After working there less than a week, she became part of J.F.K's "inner circle," having been invited to the White House pool where J.F.K. went for daily swims to ease his back pain, meet his women, and for a year and a half, he and Mimi had a steady affair, at least twice a week. Most of the time they spent in J.F.K.'s bedroom, but then Mimi was invited to tour the country on weekends to be at the president's beck and call. For their entire affair, Mimi called him Mr. President. Their time together was playful. Mimi also saw a side of the president that was not so kind...

Their affair ended slowly, two weeks before J.F.K.'s death in Dallas, Texas. When Mimi learned of his death, she was in the car with her fiancee. Before they married, Mimi let go of her secret. This secret deeply affected her marriage to her first husband, to the negative. Her marriage ended over 25 years later...

When Mimi was forced by a news article to give up her secret, she did so with relief. The events that followed allowed Mimi to have a voice and use her voice. This book must have been very cathartic for her to write. Mimi was an innocent who was taken in by a handsome, charismatic world leader.

"Friends never hesitate to ask if I was in love with President Kennedy. My guarded answer has always been "I don't think so." But the truth is, "Of course I was." This was one part hero worship, one part school girl crush, one part the thrill of being so close to power - and it was a potent, heady mix. Then there was the spike in my self-esteem that I felt whenever I was with him; I simply felt more alive - more special - in his company. But I want to be clear: I knew the situation. I knew that ours wasn't a partnership of equals, and that my love would go unrequited. He was the leader of the free world, after all. The married leader of the free world. And I wasn't even old enough to vote."

This is an honest memoir, written by a woman in her sixties, who remembers her youth with utmost clarity.

[Erin Lenihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was quite surprised by some of the low review ratings of this book. I really found it interesting and I believed every single word of the story. I also learned a lot from the book in terms of a presidency that took place before my time. Many reviewers were turned off by the lack of juicy sexual details however I don't think the author wrote the book to divulge those details but moreso to give herself some sort of healing from hiding a secret for so long and to really paint a picture of how that secret affected her life in many ways after the fact. I really sensed the authors 19 year old innocence and her inability to turn away the most powerful man in the country at the time who also happened to be extremely handsome. I do not blame her for her actions but try to put myself in her shoes and decide what I would have done in her situation. I can't say it would have been any different. I recently watched an interview with Mimi Alford and what I found most interesting was what she said when asked, "what would she have done differently if she could". I had half expected her to say something like, "I never would have slept with the president." But what she said was, "I would have told my parents because I think they would have come to accept it and I feel as though they died without ever knowing everything about me." Those words have stuck with me and for that I give her credit for her honesty and courage to tell her story to the world.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1962, 19 year-old Mimi Beardsley landed a summer job as intern in the White House. Her job in the press room was to sit at a desk, file things away, and cut press tape before it landed on the ground. It was an easy job just fit for a teen to do...except eventually part of her responsibilities included sleeping with President JFK. So begins Mimi's memoir of how a 19 year-old virgin began a sexual affair with the most powerful man in the United States.

Ms. Alford's honest account of that year in the White House is very refreshing. She blames no one but herself for saying yes to the President but she should cut herself some slack. She was used mercilessly by a man who should have restrained himself when he realized he was dealing with an innocent and very naive young woman. But no, JFK's ego and sense of entitlement knew no bounds. She honestly didn't think she had a choice and thought she might lose her job. How sad is that?

For nearly 40 years Mimi kept her affair a secret until the press outed her and she felt she had no choice but to own up to it and write her own book to set the record straight. This isn't about making a buck, as some cynical reviewers have mentioned. It's about making sure the truth, and not some skewed repoter's version, is made known to the public. Mimi does it on her terms and with as much grace and dignity as she can. The past shaped who she is today. As Mimi states so eloquently, your choices, good and bad, make you who you are. If you are able to learn the lessons that each experience brings you, personal growth is your reward.

I commend Ms. Alford for having the courage to finally tell her story and, in doing so, laying the burden of the past to rest.

[Jaime Boler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath by Mimi Alford (Random House; 208 pages; $25).

Mimi Alford's story is almost too unbelievable to be true. If her account had not been part of the historical record, I would discount it as fiction; yet, what Ms. Alford claimed happened did happen. Sometimes truth is wilder than fiction.

Ms. Alford had a secret affair with President John F. Kennedy.

But, in 2003, the jig was up. In that year, the famed historian Robert Dallek wrote An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963. Dallek came across an oral history conducted by a woman who once worked in the White House. The aide was Barbara Gamarekian, and she had a lot to say about the president's extra-marital relations with the opposite sex. The details were too juicy for Dallek to resist. When Dallek listed women JFK had affairs with, a "tall, slender, beautiful" college sophomore and White House intern was included. She was not named outright in the book. Staff hinted she was not in her position due to her skills: "She couldn't type."

Not long after the publication of An Unfinished Life, members of the press dug up details and they discovered the girl's identity. The secret was out. From 1962 to 1963, Marion (Mimi) Beardsley had an affair with the world's most powerful man.

Before the affair is discussed, I must mention how Ms. Alford was awarded a coveted White House internship. She attended Miss Porter's, an elite boarding school for girls, the same school Jackie Kennedy attended, and wrote for the school's student newspaper, the Salmagundy. Since she wanted to be a journalist, she decided to request an interview with Mrs. Kennedy for the paper. Mrs. Kennedy declined, but her social secretary, Letitia Baldridge, who also attended Miss Porter's, asked if Ms. Alford might instead interview her. Ms. Alford accepted and went to the White House. While she was there, she met the president.

Ms. Alford must have made quite an impression on JFK. At nineteen, she was offered a White House internship, yet she never even applied. Family connections played no part in the offering: her parents were staunch Republicans.

Ms. Alford began her internship in June 1962. On her fourth day in the White House, Ms. Alford was invited to take a dip in the White House swimming pool by Dave Powers, one of the president's closest aides. Several people swam that day, including the president.

That night, Powers invited her to a party in the residence. JFK personally escorted her on a tour. While showing her where the first lady slept, he initiated sexual intercourse. Ms. Alford had been a virgin and was very naïve in the ways of men like the president. Looking back on her first sexual encounter with JFK, Ms. Alford writes, "I wouldn't describe what happened that night as making love. But I wouldn't call it nonconsensual, either."

The affair continued. Mrs. Kennedy was gone that summer with her children; the president was often conveniently alone. Ms. Alford often spent the night in the residence, in full view of Secret Service agents and staff. Everyone turned a blind eye, even when she arrived at work in the same clothes she had worn the day before.

The liaison continued when Ms. Alford returned to college in the fall. The president called her in her dorm, using the code "Michael Carter."

While the affair was ongoing, Ms. Alford was with the president during some important events. She stood by his side in the residence as he called up the National Guard to Ole Miss and during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Perhaps she relieved him of stress? It is just unbelievable the things she witnessed.

Ms. Alford shows how complicated and complex a man JFK could be. He was light-hearted and joking one minute while in the next he told Ms. Alford to administer oral sex to Powers in the White House pool. Kennedy never used condoms. Sure enough, Ms. Alford believed she was pregnant and told the president. He handed off the ball to Powers, who gave her the name and number of an abortion clinic. She never had the procedure as she started her period a few days later. But neither JFK nor Powers ever mentioned it again. At a party at Bing Crosby's, JFK forced Ms. Alford to inhale a drug that was purported to enhance sex. After taking it, her heart raced and she was terrified. Powers comforted her, not the president. There are many other instances like these. They seem to be a pattern.

Ms. Alford returned to the White House during the summer of 1963. Soon, though, the affair petered out. Mrs. Kennedy gave birth prematurely that summer, and the baby died, taking a toll on both husband and wife. Also, Ms. Alford got engaged to her boyfriend of eight months, Tony Fahnestock.

She last saw JFK November 15, 1963, in New York City, where he gave her three hundred dollars to buy something special for herself. She was supposed to accompany the president to Dallas the following week. Plans changed, though, when Mrs. Kennedy decided to go along with her husband.

The assassination shocked Ms. Alford. Her fiancé noticed. Burdened by the secret for so long and overcome on that particular day, Ms. Alford confessed to him. He was absolutely livid. I wonder what he was angrier about--that his fiancé had premarital sex or that she had sex with the president. Apparently, Fahnestock worried he would not be able to measure up. After they went to bed (in separate rooms), Fahnestock came to her bedroom, pulled the covers back, and got in. He had sex with her that night, almost to erase JFK from her body and mind, Ms. Alford believed. It was almost as if he was laying claim to her.

Fahnestock forbid her to talk about her affair with JFK. That was a condition for their marriage to go through. She complied. Ms. Alford writes that for thirteen years they had a good marriage. But it was doomed from the start. They divorced in 1990. She married Dick Alford in 2005.

Until 2003, Ms. Alford had only told her secret to a few people. Then, Dallek's book was released and she could no longer keep silent. With Once upon a Secret, Ms. Alford is finally able to tell her story on her own terms and in her own words. I admire her for that, even though this reads like a tabloid and is not well-written. Yet, the book has great value.

JFK surrounded himself with too many yes-men, men who were blindly devoted to him, men who thought he could do no wrong. Camelot is a myth that has long since been shattered. Kennedy had power and he loved to lord that authority over women, especially.

I am not disputing that he was a good president. I believe he was one of the nation's best. This book tarnishes his reputation (yet again) but not the office of the president.

President's Day is Monday. Let's try to always separate the office from the man. Maybe then we will be less disappointed when things like Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Monica happen.

Presidents are men (so far) first and foremost. They are not gods or superheroes. Like us, they make mistakes. We must remember that. Even presidents dress one leg at a time.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

"I kept this secret with near religious discipline for more than forty years. I never told my parents, or my children. I assumed it would stay my secret until I died.

It didn't."

Before reading the book, I highly suggest for those who are interested to watch Meredith Viera's interview with Mimi Alford, as you might gain an entirely new perspective on her narrative. I did, and it changed my whole outlook not only on the situation but the author behind it.

From 1962-1963, 19-year-old Mimi Alford, a White House intern and college student, had a secret eighteen month long affair with President John F. Kennedy. For more than forty years, she kept that affair a secret until a Kennedy biographer outed her in 2003. She couldn't deny it; so she chose to write about it instead. In her memoir, she details her happy but sheltered childhood, the torrid affair, and the aftermath the affair had on her marriage and relationships afterwards.

It's absolutely no secret that JFK was a womanizer.

"He was no doubt a charmer, a seducer, an insatiable lothario, as I and eventually everyone else would learn, each in their own time, some more quickly than others."

For all his greatness and larger than life legacy he left behind, he wasn't an angel. However, there are two camps that exist today in their beliefs about him; one that completely worships the ground he walks on and one that thinks he's a complete cad. This book will probably enrage the former and be met with gleeful smirks in the latter half. There are so many women who claim to have affairs with JFK that it's hard to tell who's credible or not anymore. I found Mrs. Alford to be a credible witness, especially if you watch her interview. There are details in her oral and written accounts that only someone who had been there firsthand would know.

For those readers who are looking for juicy, salacious details about their sexual encounters akin to a Harlequin romance novel, you've come to the wrong place (I would suggest The Blonde to satisfy your cravings). She gives none of those types of details in the book, preferring more to talk about JFK's personality, quirks, charms, and demons. I don't know if you'll come out of this memoir thinking of JFK in a different light, but in describing some certain details about her encounters with him, you might just think that. And more than that, it's a melancholy study about unrequited love that, I believe, still persists.

In reading this book and watching the interview, I came to a sad, melancholy conclusion about Mrs. Alford; despite all her assertions in the book and on air on how she's moved on past the affair and has gotten over it, I don't believe her. It's clear in a very sad way that she still is, in some sense, that same 19-year-old girl who still has unrequited love for a man who couldn't and wouldn't love her back.

"People never hestitate to ask me if I was in love with the President. My guarded answer has always been, 'I don't know.' But the truth is, 'Of course I was.' This was one part hero worship, one part crush, one part the thrill of being so close to power- and it was a potent, heady mix. But I want to be clear: I knew the situation. I knew ours wasn't a partnership of equals, and my love would go unrequited."

Just the way she writes about him shows that she holds him up into a godlike stance that no one before or since will ever be able to achieve. And that's probably why after the affair ended she kind of went on a self-destructive path of ruining relationships; she wanted what was lost to her.

The book dragged in the final act, which described the aftermath. The first two acts were done rather well, even if the narration was a bit dry. There's a lot of her talking about how incredibly naïve she was, and how that helped her excuse some of JFK's more questionable behaviors. I still think she's kind of in a state of denial, hence the low rating. If this book was meant to be a sort of redemption and relief to her, I don't think it achieved that objective. Instead, it made me sorry for the naïve girl she was and still clings to today.

[Book Club Mom · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Affair to Remember?

I wonder how long it will take me to be able to resist the lure of yet another tale about JFK? I was pulled into Mimi Alford’s trap and her attractive book jacket, showing a young Mimi Beardsley in her proper dress and clutch purse and I admit I opened her book and read.

Hmmmmm. The motivation of the memoir writer. Mimi Alford says she was “outed” by another author and felt she must set the record straight and tell her own story. Okay. But what I came away with was the feeling that Mimi Beardsley’s relationship with President Kennedy was not the affair she claims it to have been, but something quite different, with JFK calling the shots.

Being a nineteen-year-old ingénue and being pursued by the President of the United States was, for certain, an overwhelming situation. But it is this kind of situation that defines a person’s character. Miss Beardsley decided to go for it for eighteen months and she is who she is because of that. She correctly points out that this relationship put a crack in the foundation of her marriage before it was even set and I give her credit for this insight. The agreement between Mimi and her future husband, Tony Fahnestock, to never discuss JFK created the unhealthy pattern in their marriage of avoiding all difficult discussions and certainly contributed to its end.

Of course, JFK deserves a great deal of the blame for taking advantage of Mimi. What’s puzzling is that Mimi does not seem to blame him for this, preferring to think that their relationship was special. In addition she never thought about whether JFK was carrying on with other women besides herself, and she did not think about the First Lady at all. On top of that, she has no regrets. When asked in an interview if she would do it again she said, sure. It was too much fun to say she wouldn’t.

This is not great literature. If you’re interested in knowing more about Kennedy’s private life, maybe you’d want to read this. Or maybe you like reading about preppy debutantes and finishing schools. And certainly there are some lurid details to keep you interested. If so, then go for it. Then you can ask yourself if this was an affair or if you want to give it a different name.

[shona · Rating 4 out of 5]

jfk was such a manwhore omg.

[Terrie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath" by Mimi Alford was an interesting read.

Mimi Alford, at 19 years old, accepted the position of White House Press Office Intern the summer after her freshman year at Wheaton College. On her fourth day as an intern Dave Powers, a White House aide known to all in the White House as "First Friend", called Mimi inviting her to join in a lunch-time swim at the White House pool. Mimi agreeing, had a sense of relief when she recognized several other White House employees in attendance. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw President Kennedy also join the group.

Later that same day, Dave Powell invited Mimi to a small evening gathering with the President in the White House Residence. After the group, which consisted of the same attendees as the lunch-time swim, chatted and enjoyed appetizers with daquiries, President Kennedy kindly offered to take Mimi on a personal tour of the residence. During this tour, while showing Mimi Mrs. Kennedy's bedroom, the President lowered Mimi onto the First Lady's bed and initiated their first sexual encounter. The crushingly sad aspect of this act is the fact that Mimi was a virgin. She was naive and inexperienced to any type of relationship with the opposite sex - sexual or otherwise.

Oddly, Mimi refers to the affair as passionate. However, she never spoke to him using his first name, always addressing him as Mr. President and they never kissed each other on the lips. Although these actions don't translate passion, she did say she felt he cared about her and liked her very much. The last time they met was 7 days before President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. This meeting did not involve a sexual encounter but rather a friendly gesture of a $300 gift to Mimi from JFK in honor of her engagement and upcoming wedding. It ended with a promise from the President to connect with Mimi after he returned from Texas.

Mimi readily admits she has no regrets about the affair then or now. It was a memorable and fun time for her and she enjoyed every minute with the President during the 18 months affair. This book shares the details of the affair she kept as a secret for decades. What I found most moving was how keeping that secret impacted her life for many years afterwards. Her two regrets were not telling her parents about the affair and promising never to speak of the affair again at the request of her husband, then fiance. When she felt no other option other than telling the world about the affair, afterwards she felt a great sense of relief and an overwhelming calmness from the release of the secret she had held on to for so long.

I wanted to hate this book. I wanted to doubt every word I read that Mimi Alford wrote about her affair with JFK. But, as I read, I heard the voice and perspective of a 19 year old woman describing her infatuation with the married leader of the free world. She described so many details that only someone who experienced them could recall.

Should this book have been written? After reading this book, I spent an afternoon watching YouTube videos. I watched the author's interview with Meredith Vieira, President Kennedy's Inaugural Address and his various speeches during his short presidency. It was during a time declared to be of a "New Generation of Americans", our country was excited and found hope in this administration. Although his presidency was brief, much happened during the 2 years and 10 months JFK was in office.

Every non-fiction author has the right to tell his or her story, including Mimi Alford. Her affair with JFK was a small part of the man we knew to be our president. This book would never tarnish the greatness of JFK to this country. Through the years, the public has absorbed his womanizing and many affairs so it has become an almost accepted part of his overall legacy. We do tend to overlook the worst parts of our beloved cultural figures and icons. So he remains to be who we want him to be.

I think Mimi Alford is a brave woman for sharing an intimate part of her life and I enjoyed reading her story.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is well-written and offers a few shocking turns to wonder at (mostly the speed with which JFK completed his "seduction," the extent of the author's willing participation in a relationship that was by turns exploitative and demeaning, and the troubling timing and aftermath of her confession to her then-fiancé). Ultimately, however, Once Upon a Secret proves more irritating than moving because Mimi Alford's eventual self-actualization ends up being so--well, irritating. She seems to have veered from someone who had no ability to stand up for herself to someone who sees her own opinions and emotions as vastly more important than anyone else's. For instance, she has an affair with a running buddy before ending her first marriage. Her fist-pumping moment of triumph comes when she rudely snaps at a date who has the audacity to talk about himself and order food even though she is only having coffee. And while she and her current husband are dating and he dares to arrange a weekend getaway without repeatedly taking her emotional temperature, she tells him off for being "so absorbed in dazzling me that he forgot about how I was feeling."

I'm deeply disturbed by the way President Kennedy abused a gross power inequality to take advantage of a naive nineteen year old girl. Young Mimi Beardsley never stood a chance against a man who had the means, the authority and the experience to rob her of any ability to object. But I agree with TC's earlier review when he writes,"Maybe I should give her a pass and say, this was what happened when she was damaged by this affair at such a young age. But maybe it happened in the first place because she never really thought of anyone but herself then, now, or at any time in-between." I was hoping this would be the story of a woman who came to grips with her own youthful exploitation by becoming a stronger, wiser person. Instead, it appears she's merely given her egocentricity free rein.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea why I read this book. Maybe it is that I grew up in the age of Camelot and that it concerns one of the most memorable days of my life. But still it is about a young teenager that was seduced willingly by the most powerful man in the world. In spite of that I have always been put off by expose and pulp magazine trash. That was my mind set as I entered my reading of this book.

The story is one of a nineteen year New England girl who was raised knowing the importance of what order her family got off of the Mayflower. It was further encouraged that she attended certain sequestered boarding schools and colleges and that she chose only friends from that social realm. So as a young high school grad she was invited to the White House to work as an intern on the Press Secretary staff and by the fourth day lost her virginity to the president of the United States. This affair lasted for eighteen months and took her all over the country and parts of the world until the fateful day in Dallas when the world changed for most of us that endured it. So this does sound like an expose, but really that is where the story starts.


There is no anger with Mimi. She dealt with the problems that arose in her personal life and takes complete accountability for her bad decisions and to be truthful, there were many. The story outlines how and how long it took her to come to peace with herself. Where many are blessed to know the right things to do from birth, and more commonly many of us make a number of dumb life changing decisions for several decades, it took Mimi sixty years and the elegance of this story is that it happened at all. The book is eloquently and insightfully written. It's details are kindly shared without anger, blame or regret. If you need a few of the intimate details, they are also included, however this is a book of redemption, inspiration, and taking control of your life.

[Robbin Melton · Rating 2 out of 5]

A blurb detailing how JFK had the author, a 19-year-old White House intern, perform oral sex on his right-hand man while he watched is what prompted me to grab this book. If you're looking for more titillating sexual accountings between Ms. Alford and JFK, read no further. There aren't anymore juicy snippets. Sadly, the bulk of this autobio delves into the connections and relationships of the East Coast jet setters and the numerous trips Ms. Alford made with JFK to various locations. The final third of the book is about Ms. Alford's self-discovery and failed marriage/scant relationships. Not until she is 60 does she find her lifemate which she seemingly hints is due to her decades-long kept secret about her affair with JFK. I blame her parents...clearly she did not get the physical/emotional love she needed from her parents and sadly, it took her a whole lifetime to almost put two and two together. Ms. Alford makes no apologies for sleeping with JFK and she makes no bones about cheating on her then-boyfriend/fiance or the second time she cheated on said person. For all her "self discovery," Ms. Alford does not come off as a very nice person. The excuse to engage in infidelity is never enough for there is none. So, in a nutshell, if you're looking, as I was, to read about intimate details about JFK's sex life and all its tawdry business, pass this up.

[Antoinette Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read a review of this book a month or two ago, so when a copy called to me from the library shelf, I answered. And I'm glad I did.

Don't think there's much to spoil here. The subtitle kind of gives it all away. This book is pretty much everything I like a memoir to be: emotional but not overly sentimental; generous with detail that provides context but not gratuitously long; provoking but not salacious. And it's mighty conversational. I am impressed at the ease the author has in her own voice. I can imagine her telling the story in the exact words she wrote it, and it feels incredibly personal.

It's clear to me that the author wrote the book as part of a healing process she began when she first confided in someone about her affair -- each time she told the story, it had less power over her. I don't know her personally, and still I hope that she has found more peace after publishing this book, despite what the haters have to say about her "true motives", "questionable character", etc.

A gem I am sure to quote often: "When someone listens to you, they may not realize it but they're giving you a great gift: They're making room for your voice." (She must have known that writing this book was making room in the halls of JFK lore for her voice, right?)

[Linda Appelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so disturbing on so many levels, yet fascinating! Mimi was only 19 and on the job for a couple of days when she was completely seduced by JKF. It was shattering to see that he seduced so young and naieve a young girl. What was more shocking was that he offered her to other men to "take care of them". She was really almost a prostitute and the men around JFK were like his pimps! This girl was so innocent, but we all were then. Her story made me feel uncomfortable and reminded me of some utterly stupid things I did when I was young, so I could not blame her for her affair. She was taken advantage of and back in the 60's our mothers parented us so differently from moms today. We didn't talk to our mothers about feelings, relationships and so on. We were taught to behave and that was it. Read this book, especially if you have daughters or if you aren't sure how to stand up for yourself. It's a good book, it will make you think - way into the night!

[Susan Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for Story Circle's reading circle--it provoked much discussion and deep interest, especially in light of the current #MeToo national conversation. An important book about the seductive power of celebrity and the corrosive power of secrets.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was trash. I've read so many reviews in magazines, on Amazon, on Goodreads, that proclaim this memoir evidence of President Kennedy as a sexual predator, portraying Mimi Alford as a defenseless rape victim. Well, I found this book very dubious for many reasons. First, why write this at all? What is she trying to accomplish by telling the world she slept with JFK? Seriously! Second, I find it interesting that she would publish this in 2012, given it is both an election year with a Democratic incumbent and the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Odd, isn't it?

I found a few of her comments rather questionable, creating a rather weak ethos and weakening her credibility. First, she talks about how, prior to being caught, she used to go to bookstores and skim parts of Kennedy biographies "just for fun" (her words, not mine) to relive the years when she worked at the White House. I found "fun" an odd choice of words, to say the least, and saw this attitude continued throughout her little sexual tell-all. She insists the first time she had sex with JFK was consensual because, after he kissed her and unbuttoned her shirt, she tore off her shirt for him and undid her skirt. The entire memoir has this same presentation; she describes how handsome, sweet, and caring the president was, and maintains how much "fun" she got from sleeping with him. She swears she felt "thrilled" (again, her words and not mine) by feeling desired, especially desired by the President of the United States. This irritated me for many reasons, the main being how credible is this woman and her supposed "guilt" over the affair if she refers to it as "thrilling," "fun," and "exciting"? How much of this is to be believed when this lady seems to delight in rehashing sordid details, presenting them as sexy? One has to question this woman's motives given the way this is written, among other things.

There's also a huge contrast here between what she says and what she did. She writes over and over that she was a "good, innocent girl" and she was always "brought up to do the right thing," yet she willingly performed fellatio on Dave Powers just because JFK supposedly suggested Powers "looked like he needed to relax." Um, what? She also says she always knew she could say no, but didn't. If she was aware of this and knew it was an option, then why didn't she say no? She writes in the beginning that she does not regret one thing she did, which is interesting. The whole tone of the book is narcissistic and reads more as a long-winded brag session: "I had sex with JFK and it was HOT" is basically her tone. She doesn't really acknowledge any remorse or guilt; her problem is that she chose to keep it secret. And even then I don't really buy how burdensome this supposedly was to her. I think she enjoyed the entire affair, but was afraid of others seeing her as a tramp. Now she writes about it and makes money in addition to humiliating JFK's surviving relatives. What an ass.

I have no sympathy for this lady. This book was trashy, silly, and a complete waste of time.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this on CD commuting to a weekly class and part of my problem admittedly was the affectation and drama that the narrator (who was not the author) added to almost every sentence.

With regard to the content, I gather from some of the reviews that there are readers who are irritated that this book was written and consider it an unnecessary taint on JFK's legacy. Others seem to think it is positive that this story was told as an example of a powerful man using his power to take advantage of a 19 year old girl.
I don't really have an opinion as to whether the book should or shouldn't have been written. I certainly think its the author's right to tell her story. But while this would have made an interesting extended magazine article, there just wasn't enough to sustain an entire book. It's a memoir of a woman's entire life in some respects but which hinges almost entirely on an 18 month affair with JFK when she was a teenager. While I expected that to be the focus, I did not expect everything that happened to her after to be so tied to that event - her failed marriage is essentially blamed on this; meeting her second husband comes about because of the press coverage of this affair.

As a friend who reviewed this said, in the telling of the affair, you felt as if the story was being recounted by the 19 year old version of herself. And while you wished she made different choices, you came back to the fact that she was 19 after all. Neither she nor JFK come across well or likable. Despite her protestations to the contrary throughout, I saw zero appeal of this man even as she tried to describe him flatteringly. I couldn't understand it before and now I really don't get it. And how in the world could he have found time to have so many affairs simultaneously while being President? He had time to swim with the pretty girls at lunch every day and seemingly had a different girl every night.

But following the description of the affair, I literally found myself yelling out to the author in the car in frustration. She just never seemed to move on from this. Why oh why did she not see a therapist and work some of this out? And she seemingly kept breaking promises made and justifying them. It just seemed like she could not get over this whole experience as the defining moment of her life and it was hard and frustrating to witness. I had a difficult time finishing it because I was so irritated with her before it was over.

[Heather Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I feel angry as I finish this book. I'm trying to figure out exactly why and it is possible I am being really unfair. From the start, I thought it would be her story of sexual harassment or abuse of women in the 60s to some extent. She was young and felt powerless. It was a different time. But, I think my anger increased with each description she gave that sounded like admiration of the situation. Years later, after time to reflect, it sounds as if she defends his actions and cherishes moments like rubber ducks in the bath tub or giving hair treatments. Those memories make me want to vomit.

As a young girl, I took actions that make me feel ashamed or pathetic when I think of them now. At the time I didn't know any better so I don't blame myself and I'm proud that as I aged I learned to stand up for myself. But, I still look back on those moments and wish I would have had more self-respect. Mimi talks about the burden of this secret her whole life and talks of how she eventually works on restoring her emotional health. However, in the same book she talks fondly of JFK as if she wasn't traumatized by any part of the affair. As if the only sadness in the entire secret is that she missed out on getting to tell it sooner (almost as if it were something to brag about) and that she wasn't more significant in JFK's life. Even though she claims she is aware of his other mistresses, she seems to think she was very important to him. She talks of his ability to compartmentalize. Sure, a necessary trait for a lot of careers. But, his compartmentalized time with her seemed twisted and sick. I don't care who he was, the behavior is not justified. He didn't need her to take care of him. Gross.

Maybe she's worried that if she bashes him, she will get more backlash than she can handle. If that is the case, then so much for her finding her ability to stand up for herself. I'm angry it happened to her and she was understandably powerless to stop it. I'm more angry that she never really mentions that she felt used or that the situation was harmful to her. It makes me question her mental state when writing the book and her outlook on life in general. I think my nausea hit its peak when she wrote about the death of her first child and stated "Even in my grief, I appreciated the coincidence." What the hell? Such a sick statement to make.

[Abdul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, what a story. This lady wittingly served as a sex kitten to the most powerful man in the world at the time.

Quick read, not very salacious, she describes the affair in a dreamy naive manner that makes you wonder whether she was a victim or willing paramour.

In all honesty, I am not sure what to feel about this book. I get the sense that she was caught up in the moment and made poor decisions that she is now trying to atone for. She says that she could have easily said no at any point and believes she would have been left alone. If that is truly the case one wonders why she did not. Throughout the book she mentions how she was chaste and well brought up but her actions seem to contradict that. The part where she is being passed around for oral sex with different men for the pleasure of the president is particularly disgusting and very un-chaste like.
If she was indeed a willing paramour and not a victim why come forward with this story except to cash in?

Interesting read for those who are curious. She plays the naïve participant who is in love with the president very well. I doubt this book has much value except to shed more light on a reckless man who made it to the pinnacle of American power. I might even venture as far as to say this book could be classified as a waste of time.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked on the second page. Alford's account of her 18 month affair with JFK was believable and unbelievable at the same time.

Vowing to keep the entire thing a secret, it was years before Alford realizes how the affair, the death of JFK, and "the secret" have overshadowed her life and relationships.

The veracity of the story is compelling, and while the memoir wasn't loaded with extra details, it's surprising, almost, that the author was able to remember as much as she did after suppressing her memories for so many years. Alford admits the process of writing was difficult and painful, yet it was liberating to piece the whole thing back together again after 40+ years.

I think it took guts to tell the story the way she did, and I hung on every word. I also believe it's probably easier to appreciate and truly understand the story, for those closer to Alford's age.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could tell you why I was uncomfortable reading this book......I could understand how Mimi was naive at the age of nineteen when this story began, but it seemed nothing ever changed in that regard as the story ended with her just as repressed in her sixties. On the other hand I'm glad she told her story, I just don't see it as ethereal as Mimi does, if it had been anyone, other than the charismatic John F. Kennedy, it might have been considered rape.

I was 15 yrs old when John Kennedy died and remembered him for years as this wonderful, bigger than life character, someone to be admired and emulated. I had a change of heart after learning of his many trysts, philandering ways and total disregard for his wife and family.